Picker and art of forming lap



July 13, 1937. I A, P -ALDRlCl-iI JR 2,086,517

PICKER AND ART OF FORMING LAP Filed May 22, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 hiswww4/u.

July 13, 1937. A. P. ALDRxcH, JR

PICKER AND ART OF FORMING LAP Filed May 22, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 L/J wu0144397/ fred lid/drck, J7:

ffm/@M Patented July 13, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

The primary object in view is the distribution of nely divided ber, suchas cotton, on the surfaces of collecting screens in a manner to causethe regular and continuous formation of a layer of fiber on suchsurfaces which is substantially uniform throughout the exposed areas ofsuch surfaces; and, to this end, a further object is the avoidance andprevention of accumulation of fiber at any one point as distinguishedfrom other points of the exposed screen surfaces.

A further and more detailed object is the utilization of an air currentin a manner to insure such prevention of accumulation.

A still further object is the utilization of air currents for deliveryof fiber to such screen surfaces and the treatment of the ber with asupplementing control air current for insuring continuous and effectiveuniformity of delivery to such surfaces.

In greater detail, it is a further object of the present invention toutilize the apparatus commonly employed in a picker for providing therequisite suction or difference in air pressure between the inner andouter surfaces of screening o drums as the source of the air currentutilized to o like ber to accumulate at one place in approachingcollecting screens.

The invention also includes apparatus for directing an air currentagainst fiber as it approaches a point where its tendency is to-accumuvlate for lifting or otherwise moving the fiber and therebypreventing such accumulation.

In greater detail, the invention includes a port or passageway and a jetor opening communieatingy with the trunk of a picker at or near theterminus thereof beneath the place of natural deposit of gravityaccumulating fiber, and connections for said passageway with thedischarge blast from the suction apparatus of the screens of the picker.

The invention also includes in a picker so arranged and provided withsaid air jet or opening means of air distribution for directing an aircurrent to the intake of the picker and to various places along thenormal travel from the intake toward the said jet or opening for aidingin creating and preserving a loose and fluffy condition of the cotton orother fiber in approaching the place of said jet or opening.

A further and more detailed object is such an equalization of pressurein -a picker whose screening drums are subjected to the suction of a fanas to avoid such a difference in pressure in the dust chamber las atpresent occurs in the common commercial machines which manifest suchdifference in pressure by the leaking of air wherever a crack or creviceoffers opportunity for such leakage.

It is at present standard practice in preparing cotton for carding toform the ber into a web or lap especially conditioned to be received bythe carding machine, and to this end the lap is formed on a picker whichrst beats the fiber into a finely divided condition and thenpneumatically draws the fiber against screening surfaces which areusually in the form of rotating drums, and the drawing action isordinarily accomplished by rarefying the air within the drums by the useof a blower or other fan connected to suck the air out through the endsof the drums. The cotton banks against the exposed surfaces of thescreens and is moved with the moving surfaces between the screens toform a lap which is discharged from the picker; but as one of thescreens is spaced `above the other, the iiber in approaching the screensacts under gravity to fall toward the lower screen and thereby tends toaccumulate and collect in larger quantities on the lower screen andbetween the two screens than on the upper exposed portions of the upperscreen. Also, at irregular intervals, cotton accumulated along thebottom of the trunk of standard machines now in use will fold up againstthe screens and thus produce a very uneven lap.

It has long been the custom to attempt to equalize the irregularities inthe lap by subsequent treatment. The carding machine draws out the lapinto a sliver in a ratio approximating one hundred inches in sliver toone inch of lap, but the sliver thus produced is very uneven. Toequalize the irregularities in the sliver thus produced, numerousdoublings of the sliver is required, and even the roving made from thesliver must be doubled in the attempt to produce uniformity andeliminate the unevenness. Even then the results are by no means uniform.Recent developments in the art of spinning cotton into yarn have led toa reduction in the number of doublings employed in the processing bothof the sliver and of the roving. It has, therefore,

become increasingly important to present to the carding machine a web orlap of extreme uniformity of thickness throughout its area, and thisresult is effectively accomplished, by the prescnt invention.

The present invention accomplishes this result by distributing the fiberin a uniform manner over all exposed portions of the picker screens,

by preventing accumulation along the botof the trunk or at the approachto the lower lscreen. Of course, since no accumulation is perrcttedthere is -no opportunity for the folding up masses from the trunk atirregular intervals .inst the screens, and the result is a constantdischarge of a highly uniform lap throughout its y length and breadth.

The invention also comprises certain other novel constructions,combinations, and arrangements of parts as subsequently specified andclaimed. f

In the accompanying drawings,-

Figure l is a vertical section through a picker of "modern and standardform to which an embodiment of the present yinvention has been applied.y l

Figure 2 is a transverse section taken on the plane indicated by line2-2 of Figure l, parts,

being seen in elevation, and the parts Abeing shown on a reducedr scale.

Figure 3 is a frontelevation of, the apparatus seenin Figure l takenfromthe planes indicated by line 3 3 of Figure l, a part of the frame beingseen in section.

Figure 4 is a detailed, fragmentary perspective view of the ogee platedetached.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary, ldetailed section of a part of apickerprovidedwith a slightly modified embodiment of. the presentinvention wherein the air under pressure is kobtained from a sourceother than the fan apparatus of the machine itself.

It should be understood that the modifications of `the apparatus shownin the drawings from modern standardmachines refer to air distributionand circulation for modifying the action of the machine in the respectsindicated above and hereinafterl more fully described, and it shouldalso be understocdthat the source of the air streams provided for isthat of the machine itself only as a matter of convenience and saving ofexpense, and that, therefore, air under pressure may be supplied from;any other source when desired without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention.

Referring to the drawingsby numerals, I is the frame of the pickerhaving the mote chamber 2 above which is arranged the beater 3immediately in the reark of the feed rolls t, 4, and discharging intothe trunk 5 which opens toscreen drums ii and l spaced one above theother and rotated inV a directionA forfeeding the received fiber betweenthem and out through the discharge rolls 8, 8. The frame of the machineincludes an appropriate hood 9 for the screens E and ll, and wipers orflaps I@ carried by appropriate parts of the frame cut off access fromthe trunk to upper, lower, and rear portions of the the ducts I 5, I 5,with the endsof the drums 61 and l, so that, when the machine isv inoperation, the fan v l tmaintains va constant'suction on the interior ofthe drums and discharges usually into a dust room or other appropriateplace of discharge.

A stripper i6 is provided for the beater 3 for clearing therefrom anyadhering ber, and beneath the beater a discharge grid Il allows foreignsubstance to drop into the mote chamber 2. The bottom of the trunk 5 isprovided with a dust grid I8 preferably spaced from the grid Il' withthe customary ogee plate lil extending from the grid I 'I togrid I8andthe usual dust box 2t beneath the grid i8 for receiving accumulations offoreign matter discharging through the grid I8. The box 20 iscustomarily closed by a hinged door,r 2tlwhich is adapted to be loweredor swung openA for discharging the contents at intervals into the motechamber.

The ogee plate I9 is customarily slit and thus formed with spacedtongues that are alternately bent; in opposite directions for providingair passages 22 without injuriously weakening the plate.

The feed rolls 4 will receive cotton or like ber from any appropriatesource fed ,in any acceptable manner, such as by an endless apron 23receiving its supply from any appropriate hopper or other source 24.

It shouldl be understood that all of the parts thus far `described arepresent in the modern picker that also serves as a lapper for preparinga lap for the carding machine, and other details may or may not bepresent according to the particular construction of picker involved.`This picker is improved `by the. present invention by the provision ofmeans for insuring uniformly spread fiber over thefentire area oftheexposed surfacesof` the screening drums at all times, and the preventionof accumulation of fiber at any point between the'feed rolls i and thescreening rolls or drums 6 and 7. To this end, streams of controlled anddirected air act on the cotton to maintain it in a loose, uffycondition, and to prevent it from becoming accumulated or from otherwiseapproaching theA drums 6 and l in a manner interfering withuniformity ofdistribution on the surfaces of said drums. While, as plainly shown inFigure hereinafter described, thesource of air may be entirelyindependent of the picker fan, a convenient and inexpensive source ofair under pressure is the said fan. To

that end, the dischargeA i3 of fan IIr instead of,

wall of the housings ofthe fan and the drums l. The upper end of theport lis closed by a flap valve 28 cooperating with an appropriate bar29 of the frame I. The valve 2B extends for the;-

full width of the machine andl is carried by a rod 3G having anyappropriate operating handle 3| outside the frame I in position toy bemanually shifted to move the flap 28 to a more or less open positionaccording. to the stream of air required. It should be understood thatthe rod.

3S is frictionally held byits bearings in the frame I sufficiently forretaining."tiret-flap'k 28:in any located position. Of course'gitliefriction may be increased by artificial means, or appropriate adjustablelocking means will be provided for retaining theA ap- 28 positively. inany given' adjusted position; but the air current blowing up through theduct 21 is in no sense a violent blast but only a current of sufficientvelocity to give the results desired in lifting the oncoming cotton andpreventing it from collecting by gravity at the intake between thescreen drums.

A port 32 also leads upwardly from the duct 25, and, for convenience,has its back wall formed of the front wall of the mote chamber 2 and itsfront wall formed of parts of the frame of the machine with suchadditional sheeting 33 as is required to complete the duct to itsdischarging upper end just beneath the lower feed roll 4. A flap valve34 controls said discharge of duct 32 at its upper end and is carried byan operating rod 35 which extends across and is journaled in the frame Isimilarly to the rod 30, and is provided at one of its exposed ends witha hand operating handle 36 for varying the discharge opening at theupper end of duct 32. The said discharge opening is preferably usuallycomparatively narrow, but extends the full width of the machine andbears a relation usually to the opening or discharge of the duct 21 suchthat the latter is substantially greater than the former. For instance,if the opening for the upper end of duct 32 is adjusted by the valve 34to be say approximately one-half inch, then the discharge opening at theupper end of duct 21 will usually be regulated by the valve 28 to beabout two inches; but these are variable proportions and are to becontrolled according to the speed of the machine, the velocity of theair flow, and the character of the fiber being treated with the objectmaintained of keeping the fiber in a loose, fluffy, uniformly advancingcondition until it reaches the screens 6 and 1, and also with the objectof causing portions of it to rise as they approach the screens so as toinsure a uniform distribution of ber on the screens as a continuousoperation. It should be borne in mind, of course, that the suction fromwithin the screen will cause the fiber to build thereon at ratescontrolled by the resistance to inflow of air through the sheet orblanket of ber forming on the screens, so that if at any time someirregularities occur at one point lessening the resistance to the inowof air the tendency will be for a greater amount of ber to be depositedat that point than at other points, and on the other hand anirregularity increasing the resistance to the infiow of air will tend toreduce the amount of fiber deposited at the place of increasedresistance. The uplift of fiber by the stream of air past valve 23insures the proper location and proximity of loose, fluffy fiber to atall times respond effectively to such conditions, so that the layer offiber on each screen is uniform as the surfaces pass adjacent each otherin the rotation of the drums, and the lap thus produced is uniform to avery high degree.

It is desirable also to provide for air distribution upward beneath thebeater and at the forward end of the trunk to insure the floating of thefiber and its freedom from tendency to be deposited or become collectedon the bottom of the trunk. To this end, the front wall of the motechamber 2 is provided with an intake opening 31 controlled by a flapvalve 38 carried by an operating rod 39 similar in construction andarrangement to the rods 3E! and 35 and having an operatin-g handle 40outward of the frame of the machine.

The mote chamber 2 is providedrwith the usual clean-out door 4| havingany appropriate griding 42 to permit air equalization, and, inaccordance with the usual operation of the machine, equipped with thepresent invention, a slight intake of air may occur at times, but anaccumulation of air pressure within the mote chamber is not permittedand is insured against by the provision of a screen or grid 43 openingthrough the front wall of the machine into the port or passageway 32.This screening may consist of a fairly open mesh of Wire backed by anappropriate fabric which will allow air leakage to equalize air pressurewithout interfering with the air currents provided for as above setforth. The screen or grid 43 ispreferably arranged in the form of a door44 appropriately hinged to the balance of the wall of the machine anddesigned to be opened for cleaning out purposes or other Work.

In the operation of a conventional picker, it frequently happens thatthe velocity of the air passing through the grid I1 incident to suctionfrom drums 6 and 1 is sufficient to carry over a great deal of lightforeign matter that ought to drop through the grid, and, to that end,the ogee plate I9 has heretofore been perforated to allow the entranceof a portion of the air and thereby reduce the velocity of the airpassing between the grid bars I1; but in either instance or in bothinstances the air takes the path of least resistance to the screens, andas the entering cotton is, of course, subject to the force of gravity inthe cus tomary operation of a conventional picker, the cotton tends toslide along over the bottom of the trunk 5. Such sliding movement islargely eliminated by the present invention.

Beater 3 in striking the incoming cotton between rolls 4 moves the samedownward, and the air current past valve 34 moves the same upward themoment the beater has passed, so that there is a whipping action of theincoming cotton which is thereby reduced to a thin fringe from which theheavier matter, the foreign substance, is driven through the spacesbetween the grid bars l1, and only the light particles of cotton aredriven on through the trunk 5. By having the valve 38 properly adjustedrelative to the valves 34 and 28, air is introduced into the motechamber under suflicient force to cause currents of air to move upwardinto the trunk both through the grid I1 and through the ogee plate I9,and to thereby lift the fiber and drive it into the path of the maincurrent passing through the trunk incident to suction in the drums 6 and1.

It should be understood that while the preferred location for the upperend of port 21 is shown, the air intake at this place may be locatedrelative to the trunk and the screen drums at the point found lbest forany particular machine to insure the requisite uplift of the oncomingcotton or like fiber to prevent gravity deposit and collections thereof.

During the operation, as will be obvious from the drawings, all of theair discharged from the fan Il will find its way past the Valves 23, 34,and 38 except for a small quantity that may leak out of the system andthat may escape through the grid 43. Therefore, by regulating the valvesor dampers 28, 34, and 38 a very definite and positive control may bemaintained over the air currents which convey the cotton from the pointof release from the feed rolls to the screen drums, and a greater orless amount, as desired, may be passed through any of the various pointsat which air is introduced to the cotton.

It has heretofore been proposed to recirculate air within a picker, butin all previous applicaing dust with it and giving the machine theappearancefof leaking lint and clust.4 `There is al- Ways someleakagearound the flashings of the l screens and at other points of thepicker, so that the fan will always discharge more air than it drawsfrom the trunk, and, for that reason, in the proposed re-circulatingsystems the perforated clean-out door, like door 4l, has been coveredand sealed in an effort to prevent leakage of dusty air, 4and seams havebeen caulked for the same purpose; but, according to the presentinvention, these precautions are not required. This difficulty iseliminated by virtue of the fact that the air discharged from the fan ll is confined wholly within substantially air-tight flues and can escapeonly into the mote chamber 2 as permitted by the damper or flap valve38, which is regulated to prevent excess pressure in the said motechamber'. To take care of the excess air which is drawn in by the fanfrom other sources than the trunk, the grid d3 is provided, and the saidrid relieves excess pressure without affording such leakage as to cutdown the pressure of the inflowing currents of air sufcientlytointerfere with the e-ifective operation of the air in keeping thecotton flowing uniformly to and building in a uniform layer on thescreen drums 6 and 1. lf the operator finds that pressure is building upin the picker above what is desired, it will mean that the grid i3should be cleaned, which can be done by merely opening the door 44. Itis; probable that the grid 43 normally will not release more than abouttwo per cent. of the air pressure, but whatever the percentage may be,it is suiiicient to relieve excess pressure from the balance of themachine while assuring efficiency in the flow of the air streamsrequired. It should be understood, of course, that the valve 38 may beclosed sufficiently, when desired, to cut down on the intake from fan llto the mote chamber 2, and this may be carried to the point where thesuction from drums il and l will cause air to enter through the openingsof clean-out door 4I. When that happens, the excess air escapes throughthe grid 43 and the requisite equalization or balance is maintainedwhile preserving the action of the air streams in maintaining uniformityof deposit of fiber' on the drums. Of course, in an instance of thatkind, the loss through the grid t3 is substantially greater than the twoper cent. above mentioned; but, of course the operator has available thepossibility of supplying the air beneath the grid I1 and ogee plate i9either through the port 31 or through the ports in the clean-out door4|, or any ratio from the two combined.

It will be obvious to those familiar with the art that the degree ofevenness of the layer of ber collecting the rotatingl screen drums willbe determinedby the fluffy condition of neness of the tufts'ofber beingdrawn against the screen and by the freedom of such tufts to find theirway readily to the thinner-points of the layer on the screen. Theinstant that a portion of the screen is covered by a small quantity orthin layer o-fber, the suction or draft at that poi-nt is proportionallyimpeded, while those points not yet covered being open oer anaccelerated draft. This tends to throw the fiber to the more exposedportions of the screen.' As the layer increases, the condition continuesto obtain, and the velocity of air flow through the screen is alwaysgreatest where the layer is thinnest and less where it is thicker. Thus,a tendency to automatically evenly distribute over the screen occurswith the fiber, if the ber is free to respond to such tendency. Thepurpose, of course, can not be accomplished if the fiber is allowed tosettle by gravity and collect at any one point or to be ,otherwiseintercepted so as not to be entirely free to move to the place ofgreater suction. To accomplish this desirable movement, therefore, thefiber must be in a very finely divided condition and maintainedconstantly suspended in the air. Otherwise the tendency to accumulate bygravity into a mass creating a thick spot in the lap will result. Thepresent invention makes it possible to keep the fiber perfectlysuspended in the air and highly responsive to even very slightvariations in the suction at different points so that the cotton owsreadily in a perfect, continuous, uniform stream from the beater to thescreen and ,I

does not accumulate on the bottom of the trunk o1' elsewhere, and doesnot create thick spots in the lap discharged between the rolls 8, 8.

f Also, it is well known to those familiar with the art that when aconventional picker not supplied with the present invention is stoppedin its operation, the cotton fiber which has accumulated on the botto-mof the trunk gradually folds up against the screens and makes a thickstreak across the lap which is followed by a. thin streak when thepicker is started again. These thick and thin places of the lap are veryobjectionable and result in producing a certain amount of very light anda certain amount of very heavy card sliver. With the present invention,however, the

fiber is instantly spread on the screens and the stopping and startingof the picker has no observable or determinable effect on the thicknessof the lap. This accomplishment is highly valuable and represents auseful improvement of substantial importance in the lapping of cottonfor carding.

It will be plain from the foregoing that the source of compressed airfor providing the streams of air past the valves 28 and 34, and evenpast the valve is in no sense a controlling factor, and

may be wholly independent of the machine, as, for example, a blower orcompressor at some appropriate remote point supplying compressed air toa battery of machines. It will also be observed that the collection ofber on the screen drums S and "l is due to a difference in pressurebetween the interior and exterior of the drums, and this difference inpressure may be produced and maintained in any acceptable or appropriatemanner otherwise than by the fan l l, though the use of that fan iscontrolled at present because it is a part of the organized mechanismalready popularly in use. Where the source of compressed airy jetopeningsorperforations 46 through which the 75,

air issues in streams that blend into a single stream of a velocity andsize adapting it to accomplish the work according to its particularlocation. As seen in Figure 5, the pipe 45 is located adjacent the druml. The other parts are identical with those above described and the samereference numerals have accordingly been applied. Oi course, the tube orpipe G5 is appropriately valved so as to vary and control the airsupplied to give the required impulse and oating action to the ber toinsure its uniform deposit on the screens.

What is claimed is:

1. In a lap-forming picker, the combination, with a beater, rotaryscreen drums, a mote cham'- ber, a housing for all of said partsincluding a trunk from the beater to the drum, of regulatable means forsupplying independent air currents to the trunk from opposite sides ofthe mote chamber and to the inlet and discharge ends of the trunk.

2. The combination as claimed in claim 1 with means for equalizing theair pressure in the mote chamber.

3. In a lap-forming picker, the combination, with a beater, rotaryscreen drums spaced therefrom, a mote chamber beneath the beater, ahousing enclosing the beater and drums, a foraminous partition betweenthe beater and mote chamber, a suction fan communicating with theinterior of the drums for rarefying the air therein, a passage adjacentthe periphery of the drums at one side of the mote chamber for directingair from the fan across the space between the beater and the drums forfloating ber approaching the drums and preventing gravity accumulationthereof, and a second passage at the other side of the mote chamber forleading the air streams to the intake of the beater and to the motechamber and through the partition beneath the beater.

. 4. In a lap-forming picker, the combination with rotary screen drums,an elongated trunk leading to the drums, means for supplying brousmaterial to the trunk, means for rarefying the air within the drums andblowing the fibrous material from the outlet end of the trunk toward thedrums comprising a fan, a housing communieating with the drums forwithdrawing air therefrom and including a passage leading to the intakeend of the trunk and a separate passage means leading to the other endof the trunk adjacent to the periphery of the drums for blowing thefibrous material in a direction transversely of the trunk and tangent tothe drums to prevent accumulation of the brous material as it approachesthe drums.

ALFRED P. ALDRICH, JR.

